Re: When tenants don't get along - Landlord Forum thread 330382

Re: When tenants don't get along by MrDan (Georgia) on January 27, 2015 @21:23

'In every lease, there is a 'covenant of quiet enjoyment' which means that the tenant cannot be disturbed in his/her use or enjoyment of the premises. The harassment from the other tenant is a breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment. A tenant could sue the landlord for breach of the covenant of quiet enjoyment if a landlord is not taking any action to stop the harassment by either evicting the culprit or taking other measures short of eviction to stop the harassment'.

Under California law, all leases have the implied covenant of "quiet enjoyment". (California Civil Code, ง 1927). The landlord (and/or management company) has the duty to preserve the quiet enjoyment of all tenants. (Davis v. Gomez (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 1401, 1404.)

Just as employers have the ability and duty to control the work environment to protect employees from harassment, including harassment by non-employees, landlords may also be held liable for the harassment of tenants by other tenants.
"Landlords are liable to their tenants under the sexual harassment statute {Ca. Civil. Code Sec. 51.9}"

Courts have held that the Federal Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. งง 3604—3631 (2006) (the “Act”) did not bar a tenant’s claim against her landlord for hostile-housing-environment sexual harassment based on tenant-on-tenant harassment.

Several California circuit cases and district court cases recognize sexual harassment under the Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). Applied to the housing context, a claim is actionable ‘when the offensive behavior unreasonably interferes with use and enjoyment of the premises.’

DECEMBER 3, 2014
California Tenant States Claim Against Landlord Under FEHA for Failing to Intervene in Tenant-on-Tenant Sexual Harassment...

"Drawing upon principles that are well-established in the context of Title VII hostile-environment doctrine, Courts held that “[c]onduct is imputable to a landlord, if the landlord ‘knew or should have known of the harassment, and took no effectual action to correct the situation.’ ” 955 F.Supp. at 496 (quoting Katz v. Dole, 709 F.2d 251, 256 (4th Cir.1983)). 795 F.Supp.2d at at 364.

You have a duty to tenant (A) to prevent harassment from tenant (B). Hopefully, you have been documenting all of the complaints, dates, times, and what action you took to address each complaint including verifying if complaints are factual or not.

Washington State has a very good "Tenant on Tenant Harassment Policy Plan" that might help you in taking action.

http://www.hum.wa.gov/documents/fairhousing/samplepolicies/tennantharassment.pdf

"but my question is, what's my step regarding tenant (A)?"

Nothing, as tenant (A) is a protected class making a complaint. Any action taken against tenant (A) could be a violation of the FHA and several California State laws.

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Re: When tenants don't get along by Anonymous on January 28, 2015 @00:28	[ Reply ]

Proving that the LL breached the covenant of quite enjoyment is a stretch at best here, it certainly is not an unfounded claim you make, but it's quite a stretch. Exactly which protected class do you think tenant A falls under?

Re: When tenants don't get along by Daniel (CA) on January 28, 2015 @01:17	[ Reply ]

I think he is referring to when a person makes a complaint, then they get certain legal protection against retaliation or that of a person presented with rights: For example, when a person makes a harassment complaint they have the right for the situation to be investigated. If LL does nothing then LL is violating the law...?

Re: When tenants don't get along by Anonymous on January 28, 2015 @12:28	[ Reply ]

Yes, you are right. You can not retaliate against the person complaining, you also don't have to renew their lease. If you think this person is lying, I would do a meeting with all three of you let this tenant address the family member directly. This way you have delt with the situation as directly as possible, you don't have to worry about being man in the middle with the family member, and until this person is reporting the harrassment (if it exists) you can't really do anything else anyway. Keeping records of communication is crucial, anything that you said to the tenants verbally should also be emailed to them to keep a record of it.

Re: When tenants don't get along by Anonymous on January 28, 2015 @09:25	[ Reply ]

Obviously you have no idea what covenant of quite enjoyment implies or you would not have made such a statement as you have. Don't you know what protected class the harass tenant would fall under?

Re: When tenants don't get along by Anonymous on January 28, 2015 @12:15	[ Reply ]

Yes, I am aware of what the covenant implies, from what the LL states he hasn't done anything to breach that covenant yet. Victims of harassment are not yet a protected class in California. Keep in mind they may be in the future. What you are refering to is the protection from retaliation, this is not the same thing as a protected class.

Re: When tenants don't get along

Re: When tenants don't get along by MrDan (Georgia) on January 29, 2015 @20:53	[ Reply ]

It's the law under Federal and State Statues, it's definitely not a stretch at all as many landlords have found out. The protected class is 'Sex' which includes harassment under the FHA.